Best sampler?

[brutalist_tapes]

just my take on it, but would recommend simple cassette-player (walkman) or digital recorder... for long samples modulated over time. sometimes it is too obvious that looping is going on. although i am no opponent of looping, far from it, this is something i have been thinking about in connection w/my own stuf..

[Acne]

just my take on it, but would recommend simple cassette-player (walkman) or digital recorder... for long samples modulated over time. sometimes it is too obvious that looping is going on. although i am no opponent of looping, far from it, this is something i have been thinking about in connection w/my own stuf..

sucked it up and bought a 404 after playing sets that are primarily tape loop layers - the ability to have such a deep arsenal of layers at all times coupled with my loop station and the tape loops has made more a much more interesting/diverse set. Def recommend just sucking it up and getting one for anyone who wants to use a sampler - it is simple and intuitive and can't be beat for what it does, only problem now is to not solely rely on it.

[Atrophist]

The best sampler available is certainly the Octatrack. But of course it's twice the price of the 404. Kaoss Pad can do interesting things too, but it's not as self-contained as the 404 plus many of the effects are of the cheesy dj variety.

The Microgranny is fun, but unreliable and very limited. As much as I'd like to support independent small producers, it's just not worth the money imo. 

[host body]

Octatrack is amazing and amazingly hard to use, definitely not for everyone. But if you're not afraid of some menu diving and fairly obtuse UI design, you will get a sampler that's unlike any piece of gear available. I've been working a few nights this week with long, minutes long feedback loops recorded into the octratrack, which i will then assemble into a song with the octatrack, using it's scenes and the slider to do fade ins and outs of different long feedback loop samples. It's really an instrument itself, as well as a really powerful sampler and a mixer for my external gear.

Would be nice though if it had a bit more space per song, I can work with 80 mb but it's odd to have such limits with space in the year 2019.

[Pigswill]

I've been working a few nights this week with long, minutes long feedback loops recorded into the octratrack, which i will then assemble into a song with the octatrack, using it's scenes and the slider to do fade ins and outs of different long feedback loop samples. It's really an instrument itself, as well as a really powerful sampler and a mixer for my external gear.

I'd be interested in hearing some of these

I got a Korg Volca Sample. It's really easy to chop and manipulate samples and put them into patterns. You can set start and end times and even change speed, pan, envelopes, and filters with a few knob twists. The huge downside is that, if you want to load new samples, you have to use some proprietary software to painstakingly load audio into it using a 1/8" input jack. This process takes several minutes and has to update all of the samples on the device in one go. And if it fails to update, you don't know about it until you try to use your new samples. Why Korg didn't just have a USB jack or an SD card slot on this thing is beyond me. That and the short sample limits (65 seconds total for all samples) are the two glaring flaws. Otherwise, it's pretty fun.

[host body]

I've been working a few nights this week with long, minutes long feedback loops recorded into the octratrack, which i will then assemble into a song with the octatrack, using it's scenes and the slider to do fade ins and outs of different long feedback loop samples. It's really an instrument itself, as well as a really powerful sampler and a mixer for my external gear.

I'd be interested in hearing some of these

Hah, well it's just experimentation for now, but I'm thinking about making a tape since I'm really enjoying myself working like that.

I got a Korg Volca Sample. It's really easy to chop and manipulate samples and put them into patterns. You can set start and end times and even change speed, pan, envelopes, and filters with a few knob twists. The huge downside is that, if you want to load new samples, you have to use some proprietary software to painstakingly load audio into it using a 1/8" input jack. This process takes several minutes and has to update all of the samples on the device in one go. And if it fails to update, you don't know about it until you try to use your new samples. Why Korg didn't just have a USB jack or an SD card slot on this thing is beyond me. That and the short sample limits (65 seconds total for all samples) are the two glaring flaws. Otherwise, it's pretty fun.

I did a fair bit of research into samplers before purchasing a digitakt and then later an octatrack, and what you mentioned as the downside seems to be fairly common with samplers, especially the short sample size limit per session. Elektron isn't perfect, but their samplers are definitely the best if you want a hardware experience but still be abled to mangle samples and arrange your music in a DAW-like manner. There are samplers that are more DAW-like, but personally I dislike making music on a computer so much that working with an MPC Live for example is too much.

404 and 202 seem great for what they are, but they're missing a lot of sound customization, not to mention the elektron sequencer. They're probably better for people who don't want to program at all, just make sound with analog gear and use their samplers for layering of sound, not really composing or assembling pieces.

[HONOR_IS_KING!]

In eurorack I've fallen in love with the Squid Salmple. Acts closely to the Roland SP series but in eurorack form. Can reduce bit rates for great distortion/down tune certain bank slots for sub bass madness.

[Pigswill]

I did a fair bit of research into samplers before purchasing a digitakt and then later an octatrack, and what you mentioned as the downside seems to be fairly common with samplers, especially the short sample size limit per session. Elektron isn't perfect, but their samplers are definitely the best if you want a hardware experience but still be abled to mangle samples and arrange your music in a DAW-like manner. There are samplers that are more DAW-like, but personally I dislike making music on a computer so much that working with an MPC Live for example is too much.

404 and 202 seem great for what they are, but they're missing a lot of sound customization, not to mention the elektron sequencer. They're probably better for people who don't want to program at all, just make sound with analog gear and use their samplers for layering of sound, not really composing or assembling pieces.

The Digitakt and Octatrack are a pair of beasts. I'm going to have to do some more research into these and the others that you've mentioned. Programmability is nice, but not necessary

I do have an Ensoniq EPS 16 Plus, which is a lot of fun. Once I figure out how to format floppies correctly, I'll be able to get even more use out of it. I really dig the sounds and effects that it can produce, even though it's 30 years old.

[Euro Trash Bazooka]

I have two Radio Music for eurorack. Simple as hell, and I can route them towards anything I want module wise to alter what they play, and control them in plenty of different manners as well. Currently I'm triggering them with two Turing Machines (looping sequencers to which you can add some randomness.)

[host body]

I did a fair bit of research into samplers before purchasing a digitakt and then later an octatrack, and what you mentioned as the downside seems to be fairly common with samplers, especially the short sample size limit per session. Elektron isn't perfect, but their samplers are definitely the best if you want a hardware experience but still be abled to mangle samples and arrange your music in a DAW-like manner. There are samplers that are more DAW-like, but personally I dislike making music on a computer so much that working with an MPC Live for example is too much.

404 and 202 seem great for what they are, but they're missing a lot of sound customization, not to mention the elektron sequencer. They're probably better for people who don't want to program at all, just make sound with analog gear and use their samplers for layering of sound, not really composing or assembling pieces.

The Digitakt and Octatrack are a pair of beasts. I'm going to have to do some more research into these and the others that you've mentioned. Programmability is nice, but not necessary

I do have an Ensoniq EPS 16 Plus, which is a lot of fun. Once I figure out how to format floppies correctly, I'll be able to get even more use out of it. I really dig the sounds and effects that it can produce, even though it's 30 years old.

The digitakt is nice for its randomness capabilities, I load it with different metal junk percussion and use a lot of random trigs to make really chaotic patterns. It's also fairly intuitive, fast to work with.  You don't see many videos on youtube showing elektron samplers used in industrial or noise, which is a shame because they're both really really good for it.

I would love to get my hands of an EPS 16! Despite the technical limitations you could do so much with one, mainly for industrial. It just makes everything sound so gritty. As good as Elektron gear is, the sound is very hifi and impersonal, you really need sculpt your sounds more with them as opposed to older gear with great sounding compression and filters in the box.

Have you read about this? I don't know if they can pull off replicating the gritty sound, but I am intrigued.

https://www.islainstruments.com/product/sp-2400/

[WhiteWarlock]

Yamaha SU-10 is a good ultra-basic ultra-gritty mini sampler (size of a VHS cassette) with some unique and glitchy fx via a ribbon controller strip. Got mine for £8 at some flea market years ago and used it a lot over the years, it needs fixing tho, two pads stopped working :(

well worth it for noise if you can find it for junk prices these days (as opposed to ebay/reverb.com 'vintage' prices)

actually have Yamaha Su10 hiding around here somewhere...
more random free gear
hmmm think will use it soon for some experiments

[Eigen Bast]

What are the differences between the SP404 models, and is it still in production? Seems weird that I keep seeing pretty heavily used 404s w defects/missing parts on Reverb still going for 400+

[zd313]

What are the differences between the SP404 models, and is it still in production? Seems weird that I keep seeing pretty heavily used 404s w defects/missing parts on Reverb still going for 400+

yeah, the sp404 and 555 goes for a good amount these days, i was surprised as well (just got rid of a cosmetically dinged 555 for 600 flat, buyer named price)... i actually really dislike the Roland samplers. no one seems to agree w me, but the MPC1000/2000 is much much more "fluid" and easier to use. i think the 1000 is perfect.

[tiny_tove]

last week I got the Volca Sample 2
I had enough of the issues in transferring files and was very happy to have something I could finally drag and drop.
It's lots of fun and plays dirty and aggressive. Many improvements in the tweaks BUT:

- sample rate is very low
- I thought it was broken and took me 3 days to figure out while both windows and mac did not recognize it. I found pages and pages of complaints, tried to do everything and then after some guy suggested I tested 6 different cables and the last one work. as said lots of fun, but good mostly for lo-fi sounds.

Staying in lo-fi department I got and  I am loving the Bastl microgranny, a cute and aggressive little granular thing that destroys the sound and has a bitcrusher, but surely not useful  outside of noise/glitch departments...

[host body]

Octatrack if you want a sampler that's capable of almost anything you could think of. SP-404 if you want something simpler that's capable of what you'd expect from a physical sampler.